Violent crime up in Aberdeen in 2008

September 16, 2009|BY EMILY ARTHUR-RICHARDT, earthur@aberdeennews.com

Violent crime in Aberdeen was up last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Bureau of Investigations. While there were no homicides in Aberdeen in 2007 or 2008, almost all other areas the FBI keeps numbers for increased. Only motor vehicle thefts - 23 in 2008 and 29 in 2007 - decreased. The number of thefts - 389 in both years - remained the same. Rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, property crime, burglaries and arsons showed a rise, according to the FBI report. Capt. Dave McNeil said without an analysis of the numbers, it's hard to know what to attribute the increases to; however, his best guess would be a slight population increase and a struggling economy. Both can lead to more crime, he said. "My own training experience would tell me that crime trends fluctuate, unfortunately," McNeil said. "We did see an upswing in some areas." While homicides and violent crime were down nationally from 2007 to 2008, they were up in South Dakota. In 2008, there were 26 homicides in the state, compared to 17 in 2007. Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. According to the FBI report, all those crimes increased in South Dakota from 2008 to 2007.